THE angry Sea Eagles pulled their contract offer to Daly Cherry-Evans two days before season kick-off against Parramatta. Coach Geoff Toovey insisted the champion halfback might still stay.
He didn’t. Instead, he stunned his teammates by telling them minutes after a thumping from the Eels that he was joining the Gold Coast Titans on a four-year contract from 2016.
It was a bombshell decision on the first Friday evening of footy for this season and has thrown up some major issues, for both clubs and the game at large. Here are five burning questions after DCE’s defections.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR MANLY’S SEASON?
Already described as having a “toxic culture” by former veteran Anthony Watmough, this stunning development could be terminal for the Sea Eagles’ dressing room morale. Although they are incredibly adept at dealing with internal strife, such a stunning announcement from their key playmaker just one game into the season will come as a hammer blow. Cherry-Evans was already on the nose with many teammates, who watched the likes of Watmough and Glenn Stewart exit the club as Manly positioned itself to re-sign the premiership-winning halfback on a big-money deal. To be told they had gone through all the upheaval for nothing would have gone down like a lead balloon in the Sea Eagles sheds on Friday night. Cherry-Evans’ very public pursuit of a contract at rival clubs had built up the angst, which reportedly saw him dubbed “Yoko Ono” during pre-season. The newly-added spite towards Cherry Evans can only be counter-productive – and that’s just within the team. With Manly fans also reeling from the conflict within their club and now this bombshell decision, it would not be a shock if Cherry-Evans was booed by his own fans at next Saturday’s Brookvale Oval match against Melbourne. As for a season finish - Manly had already been widely-predicted to slide out of the top eight for the first time since 2005 and the DCE drama will only cement those opinions, despite the Sea Eagles still boasting a team littered with champion
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